Best Cloud-Based Source Code Repository Platforms

Before writing a single line of code, a developer should first have a good source code repository. For projects with more than one developer, a good source control system is a must. Here are the 5 best cloud-based source code repository platforms that are free to use and available today.

BitBucket is a great platform and is what our development team chose as our code repository. Some important features of BitBucket include: pull requests, branch permissions, and inline discussions. You have a choice of using Mercurial or Git as your versioning system. For teams of 5 or less, this service is totally free with unlimited repositories. This was the biggest selling point for us, as the repositories can be public or private.

GitLab is a modern and innovative source management platform loaded with unique features and an intuitive user interface. You can use their cloud hosting or host their platform using your own servers. Both methods come with free plans that support unlimited public and private repositories.

CodePlex is Microsoft’s source code hosting platform. It supports multiple version control technologies including Team Foundation Server (TFS) , Subversion, and Git. This product is especially useful for developers using Microsoft’s .Net Framework as it integrates seamlessly with Visual Studio and TFS. All projects are free to host with a Microsoft account.

SourceForge is the OG of free, cloud-based source code repositories. As one of the first service of its kind, SourceForge has amass a huge user base. Although its popularity has been waning in recent years, SourceForge it is still a great free platform that hosts many popular projects.

And last but not least, we have GitHub. Probably the most popular cloud-based source code management tool currently available, GitHub has over 20 millions developers and 50 million code repositories. The GitHub platform is easy to use and loaded with useful features such as visualizations, wikis, and issue tracking. This service is free to use for public and open-source projects; however, you will have to pay a service fee for private and commercial projects.